My Sapphire Gem Turned Mottled After Molting.

[BigBlueHen53]

Interesting. When I first saw the title I thought it might be like one of my mottled crossbreeds came back with the exchequer pattern after her second adult molt. A pretty dramatic change after a molt. I've seen some chickens come back with slight differences in color or pattern after a molt but nothing as dramatic as that mottled/exchequer hen.

You wouldn't happen to have a picture of her? Before/after?

I have no idea what happened. As AinaWGSD pointed out some of those feathers look shredded. The lighter ones.

I agree. They do look very used, don't they?

If I were you I might contact your county extension office and ask them about it. They should be in contact with experts at the Mizzou Ag Department who might be interested in her. I'd love to hear what they have to say about it.

That's a great thought! I'll do it after the First and will update this thread.

My older hens sometimes do partial molts and when they do, they appear of 2 different colors. New feathers are much darker than the old ones. I think this is what happened. She will probably molt the rest of the old feathers sometimes in the future. Old ladies might take some time to complete the molt. I'd check if she's getting enough animal protein.

Thanks for your resonse. She's only 2, I'm pretty sure, not all that old. And I give everybody dried mealworms every afternoon, shouldn't that be enough in addition to their foraging? I mean this only happened to her and none of the other SGs.

I had an Easter Egger hen that was white/Grey and after her first molt went more cream/brown... so I guess it can happen! She is pretty!

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Thank you. And wow, that's a pretty spectacular change! You almost can't tell that's the same chicken!

Well, that's not the chicken mottling gene.
(Unless you mean the itty bitty white dots on her head feathers. I'm not sure what that is)

Hadn't even noticed those, tbh!

Very interesting, though. None of our SG birds, or eggers with blue feathers, have ended up looking like that.
It almost looks like she has a chocolate gene, but it's only the ratty feathers that are tan.
Mites?

Nope.

Genetic anomaly?

That's what I'm wondering!

Does she, and everybody else, seem to be fine?

Yes, everyone is fine!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I appreciate everyone's responses! Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this. It just seems so random and weird. If she keels over dead I'll try and get a necropsy on her, but she seems absolutely perfect, so at this point at least it does not appear to be a disease process.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You wouldn't happen to have a picture of her? Before/after?

Used to but a computer crash wiped out the photos. I should have had a back-up.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Used to but a computer crash wiped out the photos. I should have had a back-up.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[mrskenmore]

I appreciate everyone's responses! Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this. It just seems so random and weird. If she keels over dead I'll try and get a necropsy on her, but she seems absolutely perfect, so at this point at least it does not appear to be a disease process.

Not at all- seems healthy to me- she is in the middle of a normal molt. Maybe she didn't like her original feather colors so she's stopping by the salon lol

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Not at all- seems healthy to me- she is in the middle of a normal molt. Maybe she didn't like her original feather colors so she's stopping by the salon lol

Well one advantage to her unusual coiffure is that she now has a name! She is Motley!

 

[MROO]

Used to but a computer crash wiped out the photos. I should have had a back-up.

If you still have the computer, a professional (or a local 10-year-old!) may be able to retrieve your pictures.

 

[SourRoses]

I think your hen is mauve (Blue and Chocolate).
The feathers are laced, confirming Blue.
The chocolate appearance is mostly only showing on the old, shredded feathers which have lost their luster. Thus, revealing what is normally hidden by her darker tone (more melanin genes, perhaps).

I have a chocolate hen who molts similarly. One feather new, smooth, and dark. The next old and pale. So on, like a dalmatian made of milk and dark chocolate.
She takes forever to finish her molt.

It does seem to me that the shredding of the old feathers is excessive.
There shouldn't be such an extreme result from a chicken with other, smooth, feathers.There could be a reason behind that such as being pushed away from the feeder?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think your hen is mauve (Blue and Chocolate).
The feathers are laced, confirming Blue.
The chocolate appearance is mostly only showing on the old, shredded feathers which have lost their luster. Thus, revealing what is normally hidden by her darker tone (more melanin genes, perhaps).

I have a chocolate hen who molts similarly. One feather new, smooth, and dark. The next old and pale. So on, like a dalmatian made of milk and dark chocolate.
She takes forever to finish her molt.

It does seem to me that the shredding of the old feathers is excessive.
There shouldn't be such an extreme result from a chicken with other, smooth, feathers.There could be a reason behind that such as being pushed away from the feeder?

Thank you for your insight! We have three feeders and I have not observed anyone being run off or blocked from any of them, but two are within eyeshot of each other - but with a fence between. So I can't imagine her being nutritionally insufficient. Also, I toss treats every afternoon and have not noticed her being pecked away. In fact the only ones I notice being pecked or threatened are the cockerels and lately only the smaller one. I'll watch more carefully with an eye especially toward her to see how the flock dynamics look, though, thanks!